FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan — The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan said there will be more coordinated military operations on either side of the border with Pakistan, and commended the Pakistanis on its “impressive” counterinsurgency efforts.

The Taliban in Afghanistan and other extremist groups use safe havens across the border in Pakistan, and the United States has been pushing Islamabad to clear the lawless tribal belt that runs along the frontier. The pressure has often strained US-Pakistani relations, with Islamabad bristling at suggestions it should do more.

Gen. David Petraeus, who took over command of coalition troops in Afghanistan in July, told The Associated Press there had already been coordinated operations on both sides of the border, with Pakistani forces on one side and NATO and Afghan troops on the other squeezing the militants between them.

“We want to do more hammer-and-anvil operations,” Petraeus said late Saturday.